The Business Innovation Program Food (BIPF) helped Wafilin raise its profile on the international market. The membrane filtration specialist and Frisian Company of the Year seems to be reaping the benefits quite nicely. Especially in Great Britain, nice steps have already been made.
Jos van Dalfsen sits at a round table in his pleasant and comfortable office. The afternoon has just begun. From the adjacent cafeteria, the cheerful murmur of employees who have joined him for lunch can be heard. A smile appears on the face of the Business Development Director of Wafilin Systems.
'This is one of the reasons we traded our offices at the Water Campus for our own building last March,' Jos says. 'We had outgrown our premises and wanted to create a workplace where everyone would immediately feel at home. A new accommodation that also had to offer all the space and opportunity we needed to realize our growth ambitions. I feel that we succeeded very well in this.'
Big steps
Exactly one year after the move, there was another milestone. Wafilin was elected Frisian company of the year 2024. A nice appreciation for the great strides that the membrane filtration specialist from Leeuwarden has made in recent years. In the Netherlands, but also beyond.
A membrane filtration specialist, in other words. Or Masters in Membrains, as Wafilin also likes to call itself. What does that actually mean? 'We develop, engineer and supply membrane filtration systems for customers in the dairy and food industry,' Jos explains. 'The systems are used to reuse water, save energy and add value to residual streams. In short, we help customers with innovative and circular solutions to produce more sustainably and efficiently.'
DUCAM
The need is great and only seems to be increasing. Partly prompted by the transition from animal to vegetable proteins, the rise of the circular economy and the growing urgency of companies in the dairy and food industry to save water and energy. Wafilin's knowledge, expertise and service is then more than welcome, of course.
In 2014, for example, the company was asked by Royal AVEBE to develop a filtration method to make protein extraction more economical and cheaper. Because in addition to processing potatoes into starch, AVEBE has been firmly committed to extracting protein from potato juice for some time. Only: until then that was an enormously energy- and water-intensive process. Four years later the cooperation resulted in the membrane filtration system DUCAM, which stands for Sustainable Concentration of Potato Juice with Membranes. The system not only provides a valuable residual product, but also substantially reduces water and energy consumption. Not for nothing was the DUCAM project, a breakthrough in concentration processes, named Water Innovator of the Year in 2021 by the Water Vision platform.
Flywheel
The successful cooperation with Royal AVEBE acted as a kind of flywheel for Wafilin's growth and prosperity. 'The project put the company firmly on the map,' Jos states. 'Among other things, it ensured that other renowned parties such as Cosun, Royal A-ware and Friesland Campina also chose to optimize their production processes and make them more sustainable with our solutions. And so our customer portfolio continued to expand.'
On top of that, circularity has long since ceased to be a buzzword around the world; it is an integral part of business operations for many companies. Indeed, recovering water, energy and valuable raw materials from waste streams is often crucial to ensure the continuity of a company. And yes, then it's nice to know what filtration steps are required for this, what an installation for the desired application must meet and be implemented.
During the BIPF we learned that you have to have a clear picture at a very early stage of what a customer really wants.
Jos van Dalfsen, Business Development Director Wafilin Systems
International profiling
Slowly the realization grew at Wafilin that there were opportunities outside the Netherlands as well. But internationalization doesn't happen overnight. Because how do you enter a particular market across the border? Who are your potential customers and what value do you deliver? So: how can you optimally profile yourself internationally and what is your message? 'We wanted to prepare for this as well as possible,' says Jos. 'Hence, in the fall of 2022, we decided to participate in the Business Innovation Program Food, BIPF for short.'
The BIPF, an initiative of the regional development agencies, helps startups and existing SMEs that want to contribute to the food transition. Step by step, they are supported to start working on their vision, customer, product, impact, revenue model, team and possible collaborations at the right time and in the right way. In order to ultimately arrive at a healthy business case.
Take-away
The program was completed by Wafilin more than a year ago. What has the BIPF provided the company with so far? 'We have learned that you have to have a clear picture at a very early stage of what a customer really wants,' Jos answers immediately. 'That sounds simpler than it is. We are a technically oriented company and that increases the chance that you go into solution mode too quickly. So without having thoroughly unraveled the customer demand beforehand. What issues are they dealing with and why? What are the bottlenecks and obstacles and how do you remove them? We noticed that many other participants were struggling with that as well. Another take-away is that after we receive an application, we need to look even more specifically at whether the project fits our focus. Again, an obvious take-away, perhaps. But in the past, we have sometimes said yes a little too quickly. If we feel we can't add enough value, we stay away from it. Otherwise it only disrupts our organization.'
Britain
Meanwhile, there is a well thought-out plan for internationalization. In Germany, Wafilin has already done a number of projects, and an installation of the company is now also running in Poland. However, the sights are initially set primarily on Great Britain. Simply because, according to market research, that is where the greatest opportunities lie. Because of the Brexit, but mainly because of the size of the market and the type of companies in the dairy and food industry.
'A large proportion of companies in the UK dairy and food industry have to go the extra mile to become more sustainable,' Jos clarifies. 'Compared to other Western European countries, they are often just slightly behind. While they too are forced to make that transition. We are good at making existing plants more sustainable. In integrating membrane filtration systems into existing production processes, to be precise. We've made great strides in that area recently and have certainly shown in Great Britain that our applications are of great value. That is why we will be expanding our activities there considerably in the coming years. In the meantime, of course, we are also looking at other countries, especially in Western Europe.
